China's TMT IPOs up in 2nd half of 2016

SHANGHAI - China's technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sectors saw a rising number of IPOs in the second half of 2016, according to figures released by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on Wednesday.

A total of 58 TMT companies went public in the second half, raising 33 billion yuan ($4.8 billion), a sharp rise of 547 percent from the first half of 2016, PwC said.

During the period, 52 percent of Chinese TMT IPOs listed on the Growth Enterprises Market (GEM) Board in Shenzhen, 29 percent on Main Board, 10 percent on the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Board and 9 percent on overseas markets.

In terms of proceeds, the GEM, which had the largest number of Chinese TMT IPOs in the period, raised a total of around 9 billion yuan, 28 percent of total proceeds. The Main Board continues to be a major fund-raising channel for large enterprises, with 17 TMT IPOs raising 15.4 billion yuan, 47 percent of the total.

Notably, five Chinese TMT companies went public in Hong Kong and other overseas markets in the second half of 2016, collecting 6.4 billion yuan, a 15-fold jump from the first half of 2016.

"In 2017, Chinese TMT IPOs are expected to continue to rank among the top three globally. As Chinese regulators speed up the approval of IPOs, we will see a significant increase in domestic public listing by TMT companies," said Gao Jianbin, PwC China TMT partner.